The United State's attempts to destabilize Syria will end up hurting Israel, a top Iranian Ali Larijani said on Sunday, accusing the West of interfering in the Syrian crisis without the approval of the United Nations Security Council.

Speaking of the resignation of UN special envoy to Syria Kofi Annan, which signaled the apparent end of the peace plan he had been advancing, Iranian parliamentary speaker Larijani said that the move was part of a larger scheme to aggravate the ongoing crisis,

“The resignation of Kofi Annan and US officials contacting certain politicians in the region as well as military and arms support for destabilizing Syria indicates a new plan by the international villains,” Larijani told Iranian network Press TV.

Larijani then warned of the possible consequences of what he deemed as western interference in Syria, saying: "This fire you are raging in Syria will gobble up with it the scared Zionists."

The statement wasn't the first time Larijani connected unrest in Syria to Israel, saying earlier this year that the violence that could erupt following a western attack on Syria "will spread into Palestine and the ashes of such flame will definitely bury the Zionist regime."

Larijani's most recent comments, in addition, came as new reports by Syrian opposition said that Syrian government forces were shelled a rebel stronghold in Aleppo, as clashes erupted in other parts of the northern city, the opposition said.

The shelling of Salaheddine, reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, came a day after rebels reported that army helicopters and artillery bombarded the district as they tried to enter.

Clashes between the army and rebels also broke out in the Meridyan and Ansari districts of the commercial hub.

Two rebel fighters were killed in Aleppo, the London-based watchdog said. Three people were killed in clashes in the northern province of Idlib and one died in the central Homs province.

Rebels and government forces have been fighting for control of Aleppo for around a week, with neither side making significant gains.

The battle could decide the course of Syria's 17-month conflict.

On Saturday, 220 people were killed in the violence countrywide, with civilian deaths numbering 165 and 52 soldiers killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

More than 20,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Syria since the start of the uprising against the government of President Bashar Assad, according to the opposition.

Information coming out of Syria cannot be independently verified, as authorities have barred most foreign media from the restive areas.

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